One Mistake Changes Everything
by Blue's Imaginings
Summary: When Johnny Tran blew up Brian's car in the first movie, Dom's explanation was that a business deal had gone sour... and that he made the mistake of sleeping with Tran's sister. What if there were bigger consequences to that mistake than he knew about? What if the whole crew disappeared with Dom after Brian let him go at the end of the movie... and then Dom's daughter was born...?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** This story will span from the end of the first Fast and Furious movie, to the very opening of Fast Five. While the basic story-line will be recognizable throughout, some details have changed to make the story work. Enjoy!

* * *

xX Chapter One Xx

The air was stale when he walked into his apartment for the first time in a month.

One month.

That's how long Brian Spilner had existed, how long Brian O'Conner had finally been able to experience being part of a family, and how long it had taken for the promising career of a young cop on the fast route to a detective shield to throw it all away.

Brian had been kept in interrogation - sorry, "debriefing" - overnight. Bilkins and Tanner badgered him relentlessly about Vince, Jesse, Johnny Tran, and their favorite topic: Dominic Toretto.

Vince was still alive. That was about all the information Brian had been able to glean from his (former) colleagues. That, and he would be spending a very long time behind bars if he recovered from the events of the previous day. Brian had done everything he could to save the man's life, but he knew Vince would have been arrested at the hospital; the trucker had gotten a clear look at him to ID him.

The trucker had gotten a clear look at Dom and Brian, too.

It had taken some VERY creative lying on his part (and he doubted Bilkins _or_ Tanner had really bought it), but without further evidence and after Brian's version of events was on record, the rest of the team was in the clear.

Dom... Dom had gotten away, thanks to Brian. He may be on the run, but he should be rejoining his family right about now, and that was enough.

And Brian... well.

The good news was that Tanner had shown enough mercy that it was unlikely any charges would be pressed against Brian. The good news pretty much ended there, though. Brian was looking at a long, grueling, painful internal affairs investigation... one where all roads led to termination. He was already suspended, and his gun and badge had been left with Tanner. The only reason he hadn't outright resigned already to get it over with was the vain hope of keeping his ear to the ground on any news of Dom.

Speaking of which...

"Officer O'Conner." Brian winced as he answered the phone, the title already feeling like a lie. The dispatcher on the other end spoke briskly and professionally, and Brian was thankful he wasn't expected to contribute more than the occasional 'mhm' to the conversation, as his knees had buckled and he had slumped down heavily onto his ratty, second-hand couch.

 _"...Asian female, late teens or early twenties, evidence of recent physical altercation... refused to give her name when leaving her newborn at the hospital... Dominic Toretto listed as the father... Baby Toretto being collected by Child Services until her family can be reached... will send a picture of the mother from hospital security to your phone right away..."_

Mhm.

Brian ended the call abruptly, not a single word spoken on his end, and opened the picture that appeared with a blank text message. He was out the door and dialing Child Services before the face had fully loaded on his phone. Dom's voice played in his head as though they were right back in China Town, walking away from the exploded remains of Brian's car:

 _"A business deal that went sour. Plus I made the mistake of sleeping with his sister."_

Brian glanced once more at the picture on his phone, the family resemblance to the Tran clan undeniable. Apparently, that 'mistake' had further reaching consequences than Dom had imagined.


	2. Chapter 2

xX Chapter Two Xx

Brian glanced in his rear-view mirror to the infant asleep in her carseat in the back of his car. He asked himself for the hundredth time if he was doing the right thing.

Then he thought back to his teenage years, to bouncing around from foster home to foster home after his dad took off and his mom gave up... he thought about finally landing himself in juvie, and the two long years he had spent there... and he thought about the feelings of love and safety and family that surrounded the Torettos; the feelings that awaited that sleeping baby girl, just as soon as Brian could find her family.

For the hundredth time, he concluded that going on the run with Talia was the only answer to consider.

Vitalia Mia Toretto. Brian still felt weird being the one to name the sweet little baby, but Child Services had given up tracking down the Torettos after a week, and they needed to name her to place her into foster care. It was either Brian name her as a "family friend," or some stranger would do it, and that just wasn't an option.

Brian had spent every spare moment of that first week trying to track down anyone from Dom's crew. He went to the house, but even Mia had cleared out. He tried to ask around the scene, but somehow his cop status had leaked, and he was lucky to slip away unhurt, much less get any information. He had even tried to get in touch with Vince, but the man had refused his phone calls and visits, and when Brian tried to write, he had found out that his letter had been torn up and thrown away unread.

With no leads on tracking Dom or his family, Brian realized he needed more time, and turned his efforts to the more immediate problem of getting Talia out of the foster system. He went down every legal route open to him: fostering, temporary guardianship, outright adoption, but no one would consider placing a baby with a single man, one with no child-raising experience... a recently fired ex-cop with no new job lined up and no family support system of his own.

He wasn't going to get her legally, so he took her and vanished.

It had been depressingly easy to shut down the life he had in LA. Most of his meager possessions could be packed up into the trunk of a car, the rest split between a dumpster and a donation to a local homeless shelter. All his furniture came with the apartment and would stay there. His landlord had been happy enough to terminate his lease when he paid out the rest of the month and agreed not to ask for a return on his deposit or the pre-paid last month's rent. Bank accounts emptied out in cash, credit cards destroyed, cell phone tossed stealthily duct-taped to the bottom of a semi to throw the police off his trail... really the only hassle had been finding a discreet and not-entirely-legal shop that would take his gorgeous car and trade him cash on top of the safe but boring and dingy Honda that he and Talia were now riding in.

He would use the extra cash to get fake identification and papers for the car in Vegas. From there, they would ride straight on to Salt Lake City, where they would bunker down until the Amber Alert ran cold. He would buy buy baby things in bits along the way; the extra stops would increase the risk of being seen and recognized, but it would be less noticeable than buying everything at once.

It wasn't a great plan, maybe, but it was plan. All he had to do was keep the two of them going until he could get Talia to her Papa.

Brian glanced at the baby again, before continuing his careful drive. He ignored the way his stomach clenched at the thought of handing the little girl over to Dom, and walking out of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

xX Chapter Three Xx

Brian swore as the clawed _thing_ latched onto his car and shorted out the system, sending him swerving out of control until he came to a stop, surrounded by cop cars. He had let himself get too comfortable in Miami, stay too long; but Talia was getting old enough to make friends, and Brian himself had finally allowed himself to build a tentative friendship with Tej Parker, who never gave him shit about spending more time with his daughter than he did with his car, and who found him few - but profitable - races to support himself and Tali.

It was going on four years since Brian had walked out of an over-crowded foster home in the middle of LA with Vitalia Toretto in his arms, and drove away without looking back. They had bounced around the country, hitting almost every major street racing scene along the way, Brian always searching for any word on Talia's Papa, Dom Toretto. At first, his plan had been simple: find Dom and hand over Talia, no personal attachment, no mess.

That plan had lasted barely a month, when a frantic Brian had cried from relief while rocking the little girl in a 24-hour clinic, having rushed her there expecting to hear she had some terminal illness only to be told it was nothing more than indigestion from her new formula and crankiness. The doctor had told him not to worry, that every new parent had these moments of panic, and that his daughter was lucky her daddy took such good care of her. Brian hadn't been able to correct the assumption. He hadn't wanted to.

Now, with handcuffs being clasped around his wrists and his rights read to him by a smug Miami officer, Brian's every thought was for his baby girl, and how to keep her safe and loved and happy...

xXFASTXxXandXxXFURIOUSXx

They had used Talia against him: work with the feds to take down Verone, and they would make his kidnapping charges disappear, get him legal guardianship over Vitalia. If he refused, he would go to jail, Talia would go back in the system, and no one would ever let him near his daughter again.

After that, it was a pretty easy decision.

Bringing in Rome had been an unexpected blessing. It had taken a while to break through his old friend's anger, but by the time they were handing over Verone's money and trading their statements to the feds for their cleared records, Brian knew that he and Rome were brothers once again.

Normally, Brian would have found it hysterical watching the boggled look on Rome's face as Talia was brought down to the scene by one of the local officers and ran over to leap into Brian's arms, screaming "daddy!" over and over again. As it was, Brian was too busy hugging and kissing his baby, telling her how much he loved her and missed her and how sorry he was for scaring her and leaving her alone.

They had to stay in Miami through Verone's trial, and Rome stayed with them, reconnecting with Brian and getting to know his 'niece.' When the trial ended and Brian announced they were moving back to LA now that it was safe, he was sad but unsurprised that Rome chose not to come with them.

"I love you man, and I already love that little midget of yours, you know I do... but I'm not ready to settle, I can't come play house with you, man, you gotta understand."

"I do Rome, I get it. It's alright. Do me a favor though, yeah? Keep an ear to the ground for Dom. If you hear anything..."

"I will man, I will, but I mean... are you sure you want to find this dude? You told me how things went down with you two, and you told me how he feels about family. What are you going to do when he finds out about Tali and-"

"Don't Rome, don't say it. I just... I can't... it's her _family_ , man. She's his kid. I have to do this; I have to find her Papa for her."

The entire trip to LA, Brian just kept replaying Rome's warning in his mind: that when it came down to it, giving Talia her Papa just might lose her her Dad.


	4. Chapter 4

xX Chapter Four Xx

Brian leaned back against the car, the hot, gritty sand of the desert doing nothing to help his numerous open wounds. Dom knelt down beside him, concern clear on his face. Brian was endlessly grateful that the feds had taken him up on his offer when all of this started, because Dom was making it very clear that he wasn't about to leave Brian sitting there bleeding out, and Brian would hate himself if he had been the reason Dominic Toretto went back to prison.

He and Talia had been back in LA for about a year when word reached Brian of Letty's death. Brian knew that all the forces in the world wouldn't keep Dom away from her funeral, and he had sought out Sargent Tanner, ignoring the jeers and glares from his old colleagues as he was led to the man's office and promptly shut the door behind them.

It had been surprisingly easy to get the man on board to Brian signing on as a confidential informant and posing as a driver for Braga to help bring him down. The conditions for his help had been a harder a sell.

 _"Cristsake O'Conner, haven't you thrown away enough of your life for Toretto? He's gone, he's been out of your life for five years now; you have an opportunity here - bring down Braga, and you can get a clean slate, a second chance at being a cop!" Brian had simply folded his arms and waited for Tanner's yelling to subside._

 _"I help you take down Braga, and Dom's record is cleared. That's my deal, Sarge." Tanner yanked at the hair on the back of his neck and sighed, but Brian could see he was caving._

 _"It's been five years Brian..." He tried one more time, but the younger man cut him off._

 _"Exactly. It's been five years. Five years that a little girl has been waiting to meet her Papa and the rest of her family. Now I've searched everywhere - don't give me that look, I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. I've looked everywhere for Dom, every major race scene in the country, and not a whisper of him. Clearing his record is the only way I'm going to get him to come out of the shadows. That's my deal, Tanner, take it or leave it."_

And they had taken the deal.

It took some fast talking, but when Dom appeared as another new driver for Braga, the feds had stayed back and let Brian's 'investigation' run its course. They were closer to getting real hard evidence against Braga than ever before, and they couldn't afford to shake things up and spook the man.

Now it was over, LAPD and FBI were swarming towards them to place Braga under arrest, and Dom would finally be free. Tanner nodded to him before pulling Dom aside and taking out an official looking folder. Brian smiled then, and finally allowed his body to give into his injuries, drifting into unconsciousness while EMTs hauled him onto a stretcher.

They had both survived, Dom was free... now Brian just had to figure out how to tell him that he had a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter.


	5. Chapter 5

xX Chapter Five Xx

Dominic Toretto had to force back a growl when some LAPD Sargent forced him away from the Buster's side as EMTs swarmed around him. He had really done a number on himself; Braga was lucky Brian hadn't been hurt any worse, or he may have decided to kill the man after all.

He hadn't really known what to feel when he first crossed paths with Brian and figured out that he was working with the cops to go after Braga. There was definitely anger there, especially right at first, but even under that first hot surge of emotion it hadn't crossed his mind to rat Brian out to Braga's men, even if it might have won him brownie points from the start.

He hadn't looked back when Brian gave him the keys to the Supra and let him drive away from LA five years ago. The only time he had heard the Buster mentioned since then had been a letter from Vince ranting about "the little traitor" had tried to get in touch with him, but he had shut Brian out. Dom reminded him that it was thanks to the "traitor" that Vince was alive, Dom out of prison, and the rest of the team in the clear. They hadn't mentioned him again after that.

And that was the rub; as much as Dom wanted to be mad at him, as much as Brian's lies and the way he broke Mia's heart went against everything Dom thought he believed in, part of him still saw Brian as family. How could he not? He had nearly died for the family when he leapt on that moving semi to rescue Vince. He had killed for the family when Johnny Tran shot down Jesse. He had risked jail for the family after the dust started to settle from the disaster of their last truck heist. Even now, five years later, Brian had had Dom's back over and over again in this thing against Braga, no matter that Dom hadn't given him a single reason to do it.

"Mr. Toretto, this is important." Dom had to fight back the urge to growl at the stupid cop who was still trying to show him something a damn folder while Brian bled all over the desert sand.

"What the fuck do you want?!" He snarled lowly, a little impressed despite himself that all his intimidation earned him from the man was an annoyed scowl.

"You know if I were you, I might be a little nicer to the man holding the paperwork that will clear your criminal record..."

xXFastXxXandXxXFuriousXx

Dom made quick work of the lock to Brian's apartment, only resisting the urge to simply break the damn thing down because it was the door to his daughter's apartment, too.

 _His daughter._

Even hours later, the idea of him being a father seemed surreal.

Sargent Tanner had shown him the paperwork that clear his record and set him free, had explained Brian's role in it. Dom had wanted then more than ever to rush after Brian as he was whisked away to the hospital, find some way to thank the man that had saved him all over again.

Then Tanner had pulled out a copy of a birth certificate, and another bundle of paperwork. He had told him about his daughter, the daughter that come from that one stupid night with Johnny Tran's sister. Tanner explained that Brian had guardianship of the girl, but as Dom was the birth father and listed on the birth certificate, it had been easy to rush through the documents that would allow Dom to take her home with him that very day if he chose. Tanner had wanted him to sign the papers right then, but Dom could barely think through the red haze of fury that had settled around him at the thought of Brian hiding his child from him, and he snatched the folder, snatched the keys to Brian's abandoned car that still lay next to a smear of blood on the ground, and tore away from the scene in a cloud of dust.

After a long, fast drive to clear some of his anger, Dom had leafed through some of the papers and found a current address for Brian. He knew the man would still be at the hospital, and he decided to use the time to see how Brian was raising _his_ little girl.

Two steps into the biggest room in the two-bedroom apartment was all it took for the rest of his anger to drain away.

The first thing Dom saw was a row of little wooden letters nailed to the wall above the bed, clearly painted by a child's hand: Vitalia Mia Toretto. Brian had given her an Italian name, named her after her aunt Mia... had proudly kept her a Toretto. The bed itself was one of those little child-sized contraptions, shaped like a red racing car, and made Dom smirk. The whole room was a bizarre mix of the crafts and stuffed animals and light colors he remembered from Mia's childhood, and the toy cars, racing posters, and plastic tool kits he remembered from his own.

He walked slowly around the room, studying each handmade creation with reverence, and was drawn to a framed drawing and a cluster of framed photographs that sat on a shelf above the headboard of the race-car bed.

The drawing showed a little girl standing between two taller figures, holding their hands. One was thin and white, with crazy brown and yellow curls drawn on his head. On the other side was a man with comically large shoulders, an odd mustard-color to his skin, and a clearly bald head. At the bottom of the page in messy, child-like writing was "Me and my daddy and my papa." Dom struggled to swallow around the lump in his throat and looked at the pictures that were on the shelf: a picture of Dom working the DT garage from five years ago, one of the whole crew that he remembered Brian taking at a one of their barbecues: Letty perched on one knee, Mia draped over his shoulders, and Vince, Leon, and Jesse sprawled out around him. The last picture was of Brian, standing in the ocean and smiling up at the little girl he had held above his head, the love and adoration in his expression as clear as day. The little girl's face was scrunched up in a squeal of delighted laughter, her features an exotic mix pure Toretto Italian stock and softer, smoother Asian qualities.

She was absolutely beautiful. And she was _happy_.

It was clear now that Brian never meant to keep Vitalia away from him. It was just as clear that the Buster loved Dom's daughter as his own.

Now what?


	6. Chapter 6

xX Chapter Six Xx

Dom spent hours in his daughter's room. He felt a little creepy, looking through the tiny clothes in the closet and reading through the most worn (and clearly well-loved) children's books from the tiny bookshelf next to the bed, but he was desperate to try anything to get to know his kid the best he could. It was the middle of the night when his own injuries and exhaustion from the mess with Braga finally caught up with him and he decided to crash at the apartment and wait to talk to Brian when he came back from the hospital.

He had been shocked all over again when he walked into the tiny, sparsely decorated room that Brian had claimed as his own. And when he said 'sparsely decorated,' he meant it. There was a thick wire nailed across the length of one wall, weighed down by pictures and other crafts clearly gifted to him by Vitalia and now clothes-pinned to the wire on display. The only other decorations to speak of were four small photo frames sitting on the dresser.

The first showed an extremely nervous looking Brian holding a tiny newborn close to his chest, looking down at the sleeping baby in wonder. The room they stood in was clean but shabby and drab, four cribs crowded into the small space along with what looked like a well-used changing table. Dom's chest hurt as he realized this must have been where his daughter was sent after her mother gave her up.

The second picture was also of Talia, this one clearly a recent photo, with a beaming four-year-old sitting behind the wheel of a car, pretending to drive despite the fact that her feet couldn't reach the pedals. Dom grinned proud and sappy at the picture.

It was the last two photos that shook him: another photo of the old LA crew hanging out at his house, this one including Brian, and by the looks of it taken from a car across the street. _Surveillance_ , his mind supplied uncomfortably, but he was quickly distracted by the final photo: Dom and Brian, just a close-up of their faces, standing in front of the garage and laughing together over something.

Photos of Dom and his family in Talia's room made sense, Brian had clearly made every effort to keep her connected to the Torettos. Photos in Brian's room, though, told Dom how Brian fit into his family more clearly than any words ever could.

Forcing himself to turn away from the photo frames, Dom kicked off his shoes, shut off the light, and crawled into Brian's bed, wondering when anything was going to start to make sense again.

xXFastXxXandXxXFuriousXx

Dom was awake and waiting when Brian came back to the apartment the next day. He watched from the shadows as Brian slowly made his way through the front door, movements stiff and somehow looking even more battered than the day before, now that his bruises had colored up overnight. Brian was on the phone, and Dom stood silent and just out of sight, shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation.

 _"...You know I miss her too... she did see me, she came to the hospital just yesterday... I know it's not the same... just a little longer, just so I can find Dom before he disappears again... yes, now; he needs to know about his daughter..."_

Dom had heard enough. It was the final confirmation that Brian always planned to include him in Vitalia's life. He stepped quietly into the room, his expression blank, and watched as Brian whirled around in surprise. He abruptly ended the call, eyes wide with fear as he realized Dom must know about Talia if he was standing in the apartment.

This was not how Dom was supposed to find out.

"Dom! Vitalia, she's… I _swear to God_ , Dom, I wanted to tell you, I tried, I looked everywhere! I—!" Dom stepped up into Brian's space and held up a hand, almost a little amused at how quickly he stopped talking and his jaw snapped shut.

"I know Brian. Maybe not at first; when that dick Tanner told me I had a daughter and that you were raising her, I was ready to come in here and beat the shit out of you for hiding my kid from me."

"Tanner told you? Why? And what do you mean 'at first'?" What—?" Brian's rambling questions were once again cut off, this time by Dom pressing the folder from Tanner into Brian's arms with one hand, and using his shoulder to steer him around to sit in one of the kitchen stools with the other.

"Yeah, Tanner. Gave me this while they were loading you up for the hospital. It was a lot to take in, but… Brian? Hey, breathe! What the hell man?!" Brian had immediately started flipping through the paperwork in the folder while Dom talked, but halfway through his explanation, the entire folder had slipped out the man's hands, papers fluttering all over the kitchen as Brian began to shake and gasp for air, pupils blown wide with panic.

"You can't just… please, Dom, don't just disappear with her, not… I'm not ready, I… I can't… oh God _please_ …"

Brian stared down at the judge order in his hand, that Dom hadn't even realized he was still holding.

The order that returned guardianship of Talia to Dom as soon as he signed it.

The order that was now being splattered with tears by one of the toughest men Dom knew.


	7. Chapter 7

xX Chapter Seven Xx

The lock clicking open on the front door echoed through the silent apartment, and Dom leapt to his feet, sweaty palms rubbing against his jeans as he stared wide-eyed at the slowly opening door. When Brian stepped inside a moment later and Dom's eyes met the deep brown eyes of his little girl peeking at him through long wisps of hair with her face tucked shyly against Brian's shoulder, Dom was in love.

Brian didn't say a word as he quietly shut the door behind him before kneeling on the ground, coaxing the child arms off his neck and gently lifting her off his waist so that she was standing nervously beside him.

"That's my Papa?" She asked, and though she whispered it echoed through the apartment. Brian smiled softly at her and brushed aside the hair that had fallen into her face.

"Sure is baby; we finally found him. He's so excited to meet you… think you can go say hello?" Brian's voice was soft and coaxing, and Dom would have been surprised by it if he wasn't too busy trying to remember how to breathe as his daughter – _his daughter!_ – shyly shuffled over closer to him. Hoping to ease her apprehension, he crouched down so that he was at eye-level with her, and slowly held out a hand, holding it there to see what she would do.

"Hi Papa," Talia said, shyly laying her tiny hand in Dom's giant palm.

"Hey there angel," Dom said, unable to hold back a dopey grin when his deep voice and the little pet name caused the girl to giggle.

"Daddy says you didn't know about me, but that when we found you, you would love me and I would have a big family of people to love me." She leaned forward, hand cupped around Dom's ear as she whispered conspiratorially to him, though he was sure Brian could still hear her. "Sometimes I got mad, because you made it really hard to find you, but daddy always made sure I forgived you."

Dom hesitantly pulled the child into a hug, blinking back tears when her arms wrapped around him in return. He looked over his shoulder and straight into Brian's eyes when he answered her.

"Well we sure are lucky you have such a great daddy, aren't we?" He could see how the statement startled Brian, watched as the man nearly slumped back against the door in relief, and Dom made sure to calmly hold his gaze, trying to express just how sincere he was with his eyes alone.

It had been a long, emotional day for both men. When Dom finally talked Brian down from his panic attack, he tried to convince the man that he wasn't simply going to snatch his daughter away from the only home and family she knew and disappear with her. Watching Brian now, though, Dom wondered if some part of the man had still been trying to prepare himself for the worst.

They hadn't made any solid plans, Dom hadn't given any promises; they had simply tried to figure out what had happened in each other's lives over the past five years, and then agreed that Brian would go and get Vitalia, and bring her back to meet Dom. It wasn't until this moment that Dom realized just how much trust Brian had placed in him when he brought his daughter back without any plans or promises in place – without any guarantees that this wouldn't be goodbye.

Talia pulled away from their hug and stepped back, fingers playing nervously with the hem of her t-shirt. Dom's knees were starting to burn from the awkward crouched position, but he stayed there, not wanting to move suddenly and startle the little girl.

"I am _so_ sorry I didn't know about you sooner, Talia. If it's okay with you… and your daddy… I'm going to stay in LA for a while, and I really want to get to know you. What do you think? Can you and your daddy hang out with me?" Dom could sense Brian's gaze on him, could practically feel the man's shock and the questions no doubt fighting to be asked out loud, but he kept his gaze locked on his daughter, watching for her reaction. At first, she had beamed and bounced a little on the balls of her feet, but then her shoulders had hunched just slightly, and she nibbled on her lip, eyes darting down to the floor nervously.

"Daddy says your family lives really far away… are you going to take me really far away, too?" Dom knew that unspoken in her question was, 'are you going to make me leave my daddy behind?' He could hear Brian's breath hitch, and saw out of the corner of his eye that the man had started towards them, but Dom calmly tucked a finger under Talia's chin and gently tilted her head until he could look in her eyes again.

"You _never_ have to choose between your daddy and your papa. I promise. Okay?" Dom looked over her shoulder, staring straight into Brian's shocked, hopeful gaze. "I promise."


	8. Chapter 8

xX Chapter Eight Xx

The day Dom meets Talia they order pizza to the apartment and the three of them sit in the living room talking until Talia falls asleep in Brian's lap, a cold pizza crust still clutched in her little hand. Dom stays back as Brian caries her into her room, carefully changes her into pajamas so he doesn't wake her up, and gets a wet cloth from the bathroom to wipe the grease away from her fingers. Brian waves him over when he has her tucked under the blankets, and Dom goes hesitantly – she seems so much smaller like this, more fragile somehow.

"She's so amazing," he whispers when he's standing over his sleeping daughter.

"She's perfect," Brian amends immediately, but his expression is soft when Dom looks up and catches his eye. "You make a good kid." Dom snorted in reply, rolling his eyes when Brian just looks back at him confused.

"You did the work here, Bri. You raised her. If anyone gets to take credit for her it's you." Brian frowns in return, but motion for Dom to leave the room with him before they continue to talking. Luckily, Dom turned to get one last look at his sleeping child before leaving the room, or he never would have made it back in time to catch Brian before the other man stumbled into the wall after trying to stand too quickly.

"Easy, eeeaaaasy now. Damn it Brian, you just got out of the hospital, you're not supposed to be pushing yourself. Why didn't you say something?!" Dom was half carrying Brian over to his own bedroom the whole time he was delivering his whispered scolding. They did fine until he went to lower Brian down onto the mattress, and their legs tangled together causing both men to fall across the bed, Dom just barely catching himself before he crushed Brian entirely.

Dom looked up at Brian's face, planning on apologizing, but was distracted by the rosy blush rising up the ex-cop's neck and tinging the edges of his ears red. His face was turned pointedly away from Dom, and when he followed his gaze he found that Brian was staring at the picture of the two of the them laughing together five years ago.

Dom had forgotten that he had left it on the bedside table after staring at it the night before.

Suddenly fighting off a blush of his own, Dom carefully disentangled himself from Brian and stepped away from the bed, hand rubbing sheepishly on the back of his neck even as he fought to form his expression into something nonchalant.

"I never wanted to hurt you." The words were spoken so softly that Dom would have thought he'd imagined them were it not from the sorrowful look Brian was giving him.

"I know."

"No, Dom I mean it; I know I lied to you, I know you can't forgive me for that, but I thought I could keep you all safe – I was so sure you weren't involved in the truck-jackings, if I had known… Even if I backed out of the undercover job they would have just sent someone else in, I thought you would all be better off with me staying close, trying to watch your backs… I didn't—I never—if there was _anything_ I could have done for Vince, or J-Jesse…"

"I _know_ O'Conner," Dom cut in firmly, putting every ounce of certainty he could behind his words and sitting down on the edge of the bed to make Brian look at him. "I forgave you a long time ago."

"But I lied—"

"Yeah, yeah you did. You lied to me, you lied to my family, and you hurt Mia." With each accusation, Brian paled a little further, and actually winced at the last one.

But Dom wasn't done.

"If you hadn't lied, if you hadn't been a cop, Vince would have died hanging off the front of that semi. Mia would have been left alone at Race Wars to face a gang of pissed off Tran's on her own – yeah, no one ever told you they broke in and trashed the trailer, did they? Leon, Letty, _me_ … we'd all be in prison right now. And Jesse—" Dom nearly growled when Brian turned his head away in shame. Reaching out, he lay a hand against Brian's cheek and forced the man's face back towards his own. "Jesse was _not your fault_. You hear me?"

Brian took a long time to respond, but he finally nodded. It was a small nod, and anything but convincing, but it was a start, and Dom let it go for now. Besides, from the calculating look on the other man's face, he could tell that Brian had more on his mind at the moment.

"So… all this time I've been looking for you, expecting to have to talk you out of killing me long enough for me to tell you about Talia, you just… forgave me? Just like that?" His voice was extremely skeptical, and understandably so. Dom was not known to be the most forgiving man. He sighed, leaning down to rub his hands tiredly over his face while keeping his elbows resting on his knees.

"Not at first. I couldn't hate you—not entirely, anyway, not after you gave me the car and let me go. But yeah, yeah I was pissed. For a while there all I wanted was to track you down and beat the shit out of you."

"So, what changed?"

"Vince." At this, Brian burst out laughing (albeit slightly hysterical laughter), and Dom turned to raise an eyebrow at his incredulous outburst.

" _Vince?!_ Vince convinced you not to hate me. Now I _know_ you're pulling my leg." Dom rolled his eyes again, this time shoving Brian's shoulder to shut him up, though he was gentle about it, still mindful of the other man's injuries.

"Naw. When I finally had Mia settled and we figured out a safe way to write to him in prison, a few months had passed. His first letter, he went on about how you had tried to visit him and write to him and shit, and how he had cut you off. I told him off for it, said how you were the reason he wasn't six feet under. Got me thinking, and I realized we had more than a little to thank you for." They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes after that, both of them lost in the memories of five years ago. "Why did you?"

"Why did I what?" Brian asked, thinking there were a lot of things he did back then that didn't seem to make much sense. Dom also looked to be struggling to decide exactly what he wanted to ask. In the end, it wasn't any of the questions Brian had expected.

"Why did you go see Vince?" Brian looked away and shuffled the blankets on the bed around enough that Dom had to stand up. Finally, he sighed and quietly answered.

"Mostly for Talia, to find you and tell you about her. But also… I think I just wanted to hold on to the last bit of family I had left, even if it was Vince."

Dom tried to think of something—anything—to say. In the end, he awkwardly patted Brian's knee and before slipping out of the apartment without a word.


	9. Chapter 9

xX Chapter Nine Xx

When Brian woke the next morning, it was only Talia's soft crying from the other room that convinced him to get up and face the day. His arms trembled slightly as he pushed himself off the bed he groaned loudly, his body sore and muscles stiff. He scrubbed a fist absently over his eyes, trying to force them open and alert after only a few hours of sleep.

It had taken exactly five seconds after he heard his apartment door closed behind Dom the night before for Brian to feel like an utter moron. _Why_ had he admitted that he saw the crew as his family? Out loud. _To Dom._

Brian may have felt strongly about keeping Talia's family alive for her even before she ever met any of them, but he was also man enough to admit that he wanted that connection for himself, as well. It was honestly ludicrous how much he missed the crew, he recognized that. After all, he had only known them for about a month, hadn't really even been accepted by them before everything had blown to hell - and even then, he had been Brian Spilner, not Brian O'Conner.

He couldn't help it.

To Brian, Dom's family meant love, safety, forgiveness, and loyalty: all the things Brian himself had always wanted, and never had. He came close with Roman, even more so since they reconnected over the Verone case. And Tej had shocked Brian with the effort he had gone to to keep in touch with Brian and Talia; Brian could count both 'Uncle Rome' and 'Uncle Tej' as family. But he still missed the LA crew... and he was starting to worry that Dom alone had more to do with it than Brian had ever been willing to admit. Because it wasn't the idea of the family rejecting him that had kept Brian tossing and turning all night - it was the idea of Dom rejecting him.

In more than one way.

"Daddy, daddy!" Hearing his daughter's panicked shouting finally snapped Brian out of his troubled thoughts, and he rushed out of his room, immediately scooping her up into his arms when he found her standing next to the couch and reaching out to him, tears streaming down already wet cheeks.

"Tali, sweetheart, what's with all the tears baby girl?" Brian crooned, trying his best to make his voice calm and reassuring, even as his heart broke. No matter how many times Talia had cried over the years, it never got easier to see her like this.

"Papa's gone, he went away again! He's not s'pposed ta leave now that he met me - he has to love me! ...why doesn't papa love me?" Her voice went from a panicked shout to shaky whisper with her last few words, before she hid her tear-stained face against Brian's neck and stayed there unmoving, just sniffling quietly.

Brian could have kicked himself for not thinking how it would look for Talia to fall asleep with her long-lost-papa in the apartment, and wake up to him gone again. Sitting carefully on the couch with his kid in his lap, Brian did everything he could to explain to her that her papa _did_ love her, he hadn't vanished, he was sure to be back later today to visit her... but nothing was working.

Finally, two hours later and after tearful failed attempts at breakfast, books, and even a movie, Dom's voice came over the apartment intercom, asking Brian to buzz him in. After a sigh of relief and a moment to send a quick 'thank you' to the universe, Brian crouched down in front of a suddenly hopeful Talia and told her to stay in the apartment while he went to get papa. As soon as he had her promise, he grabbed his keys,m locked the door behind him, and practically ran down the stairs.

xXxXxXxXx

Dom managed to catch a few hours of sleep in his car after leaving Brian's apartment, but jolted awake after a short while. He had had the dream before - watching the Buster in his rear-view mirror, seeing him standing alone in the middle of the street, waiting to face his fate as the sirens from the police cars came nearer. This time, though, instead of the guilt of abandoning a friend waking him up right away, Dom's father had suddenly appeared in the passenger seat, shaking his head and giving Dom a rare (but effective) look of disappointment.

 _"You don't turn your back on family... even when they do." *_

He had heard the line before, what felt like a life-time ago. It was the last time Dom's father had sat him down for a 'Toretto Life Lesson' before he died. Dom and Vince had gotten into an argument over Vince getting involved with some shady people. He was drunk when Dom finally confronted him; Vince took a swing at Dom. He missed, and Dom wouldn't hit him in that state, but they hadn't spoken in over a week when Vince called from police station, after he and his new 'friends' were picked up for trespassing in a private car lot. Dom yelled at him, and stubbornly refused to go bail him out, but had turned to face his father's disapproving glare after hanging up the phone. He had sat Dom down, stared him in the eye, and-after a long silence-summed up what family responsibility meant in a single sentence.

Dom had gathered all the cash in his room and driven down to the station minutes later.

It was those lessons from his father that made him love and respect the man so much. Dom lived by those lessons religiously, and to realize with sudden clarity that he had forgotten one of those lessons in his anger over Brian's deception five years earlier...

Even a drive wouldn't settle Dom's restless thoughts after the dream, and he ended up walking what felt like halfway across the city before realizing how late it had gotten and catching a cab back to Brian's apartment. He was tired, but looking forward to seeing both Brian and Talia again. He wasn't quite prepared, then, when the building door was yanked open by a clearly irate ex-cop, staring him down through narrowed eyes.

"What's up, Brian?" Dom asked, stepping carefully past him into the hallway and keeping his voice and body language as neutral as possible while he felt out the situation.

"You need to tell me what you're doing here, Dom. Talia's your daughter, okay, and she's been waiting a really long time-like, her whole life-to meet her papa. You can't just come into her life, turn her world upside down, then disappear, okay? You're _gravity_ , right? It's like Mia said. She's going to love you, _really_ love you, even more than she always has, and I know she's your kid but she's also _my_ kid, and I don't want her hurt or-or confused. I- She-"

"You think I'm going to hurt my daughter?" Any other time, Dom would be yelling at someone who made that kind of accusation of him, but under Brian's anger was something more vulnerable, something like fear, and it was only confirmed when Brian nearly deflated at Dom's quiet question. A pained, guilty expression settled on Brian's face, his eyes shining with apology.

"Shit, Dom, no-of course not. I just... Talia woke up and panicked when she couldn't find you, thought you left again, because you didn't lov-" He cut himself off and cleared his throat awkwardly, but Dom knew what he had been about to say and winced. "Anyway, she's been crying all morning... I'm sorry..." Dom let him trail off and they stood in silence for a few seconds while Dom debated letting the topic drop. But there had been more than concern for Talia in Brian's babbling rant.

"That all that has you spooked, Bri?"

"No-yes! ...What?"

Dom crowded right into Brian's space and leaned forward, watching his throat as he swallowed nervously before speaking directly into his ear.

"Vitalia is my daughter. And you are her dad. You're officially family this time, Brian: you won't get rid of me a second time. You're mine now." Dom pretended to miss the look of relief that flashed across Brian's face and followed him back to his apartment.

 _*Note: Quote borrowed from Fast & Furious 6_


	10. Chapter 10

xX Chapter Ten Xx

Brian smiled wistfully out his apartment window. Dom had Talia on the street below, Dom in typical jeans and tank, and Talia in a swimsuit. Dom had pulled his car right up by the curb in front of the building, and he and Talia had buckets full of soapy water and sponges, flinging water at each other and laughing more than actually washing the car.

Dom had been back in their lives for two weeks now. Brian had had to leave his job at a local garage in order to help the FBI go after Braga, and he hadn't gotten around to looking for another one yet. Every day of the past weeks he had spent with Talia and Dom, going to parks, to the beach, even spending one very memorable day turning Brian's living room into a giant blanket fort and playing make-believe with Talia and her toys in between watching Disney movies with her. Every day Dom and Talia grew closer, and Brian was so happy for both of them, even if he'd never expected anything less.

What he hadn't expected was that every day he and Dom grew closer as well, whether either of them would admit it or not.

They hadn't talked any more about feelings or family since Dom made his claim that first morning back: _"You're mine now."_ Every night after Talia was tucked in, Brian would walk Dom to the apartment door, telling himself with every step that this was the moment, this was when he would ask Dom what he meant or tell Dom how he felt or - _something_. But every night they would stare at each other for a few moments, then Dom would nod, and he'd be gone until the next morning.

And then Brian would be alone all night with his thoughts.

Dom had said he was officially family now, but was he just saying that because of Talia? He had said that he would never tear her away from the only family she knew, but what happened when she and Dom had become just as close as she and Brian were? Brian hadn't seen the papers from Tanner since Dom first confronted him after the hospital, but what did that mean? Had Dom signed them? Had he thrown them out? Was he waiting until he had a stronger relationship with Talia, and then he'd sign them?

A phone started vibrating on the table beside Brian, and he reached over and flipped it open to answer without thinking. Before he could say anything, a voice he hadn't heard in five years started talking very quickly on the other end.

"Dom? Where are you?! You said you'd be home soon. Look... I know there are a lot of things in LA that you need to work out with her, but your family is here-your family is here. Her family is here. It's time to-" Brian ended the call, unable even to hear Mia say the words; hear her telling her brother to rip Brian's whole world apart.

He never noticed the tears on his face.

xXxXxXxXx

Dom chuckled warmly and tousled Talia's hair as he let the dripping girl into the apartment and sent her to the bathroom to shower.

"Go get warm and clean, or your daddy's gonna have my head. I'll get you some clean clothes to change into." He shook his head as Tali skipped her way over to the bathroom, happy and carefree in a way that made Dome more grateful to Brian and his parenting every day he saw it.

Dom was still smiling when he pushed the door open to Talia's room, but he stopped short when he found Brian sitting on the edge of Talia's race-car bed, staring down unmoving at the worn yellow blanket that Talia's mother had wrapped her up in when she left her at the hospital; the blanket Tali still slept with every night.

"What happened to you O'Conner, you look like someone died," Dom said, trying to lighten whatever bleak mood the other man was in as he stepped carefully into the room. He nearly cringed at the dead look in Brian's eyes when he raised his head to look at Dom.

"Were you going to tell me before you took her away, or were you just going to disappear?" It was the bleak despair in Brian's voice as much as the words that made Dom stop short, entirely serious in a single moment.

"What the hell are you on about, O'Conner?" He asked, voice deceptively calm. He almost didn't catch his phone when Brian picked it up from behind him on the bed and flung it at Dom's chest.

"Mia called."

"You talked to Mia?"

"No. I didn't say a word... didn't have to. I picked up your phone without looking, and she started talking as soon as I answered." He stood suddenly, pain and betrayal shining in his eyes as he glared at Dom. "She's very anxious for you and Vitalia to get home to your family." Brian's voice was rough and gravelly, like he was fighting back tears, and when Dom grabbed his arm to stop him from shoving past him out of the room, all his muscles were rigid with tension.

"I didn't tell Mia about Talia, Brian. Hey! Listen to me." Dom couldn't decide whether he wanted to hug Brian or shake him as the man fought to get out of his grasp. "I haven't told anyone O'Conner! That kind of decision gets made as a family, and sooner or later you're going to have to figure out that we're a family. We're her parents, Brian." Unable to stop himself, Dom reached up to brush a tear out of the corner of Brian's eye, his hand lingering against Brian's face. "You _need_ to _talk to me_ for us to make this work."

It seemed to take Brian a long time to decide whether or not he could trust Dom, but in the end he leaned into the touch, closed his eyes and repeated what Letty had told him over the phone.

"She wasn't talking about Talia, Buster." It was the fond, gentle way Dom said the nickname more than the word itself that made Brian open his eyes again. "I don't like to lie to Mia, so I haven't been taking her calls since finding out about Talia. She's left me messages every couple of days, wanting me to come home so we can grieve over Letty together. She was talking about _Letty_ Brian; she thinks I'm punishing myself by staying here with all my memories of Letty, drowning myself in guilt." Dom watched as Brian's breath caught when he framed Brian's face with both his hands. "Mia doesn't realize that the last two weeks I've felt more alive than I have in five years."

Neither man would remember later who leaned in first, but both would always agree that the kiss had been one of the best of their lives.


	11. Chapter 11

xX Chapter Eleven Xx

The days that followed that first kiss were some of the happiest Brian had ever had. Physically, their relationship hadn't progressed past several more heated kisses. Now though, Dom didn't leave in the evenings when Talia was tucked into bed, and Brian woke up in the mornings in a tangle of arms and legs and warmth with Dom somehow managing to share his small bed with him.

Everything was going so well, which was probably why it took Brian nearly a week to decide it was time to confront Dom about the custody papers for Talia. In the end, though, It was Dom who broached the subject, crowding up behind Brian where he sat watching the sunrise out the window and brooding. Dom leaned over his shoulder and pressed a fresh cup of coffee into his hands, staying close and sharing the silence with him for a moment before he sighed quietly and reached out to place the custody papers on the table in front of Brian, too. Brian stiffened and slowly set the coffee down, fingering the edges of the papers, not sure what to say. Luckily, Dom wasn't having the same problem.

"You know, at first when you didn't ask me what I did with the papers, I thought you were scared to hear the answer. Then, when things changed with you and me, I hoped you didn't say anything because you trusted that I wasn't going to use them."

"And now?" Brian asked the question without looking at Dom, but he didn't fight it when Dom wrapped an arm around him and covered his heart with a wide palm, chin hooking over Brian's shoulder so their faces were pressed together.

"Now I've realized that you aren't fighting me over custody because for some dumb-ass reason, you don't think you have the right to. I just don't understand _why_."

"She's your daughter Dom, I'm just-"

"You're just the one who raised her. The one who's been protecting her all her life, teaching her right from wrong, keeping her safe and healthy and happy." Brian pulled away from Dom just enough to twist his body so he could look into Dom's eyes while the other man kept speaking. "We've shared a lot of stories these past weeks Brian. I will never, ever be able to thank you enough for the way you kept me and my family a part of Talia's life all these years, but you need to stop deluding yourself about which one of us has more of a right to call themselves her parent. _You_ gave up four years of safety and freedom to make sure that little girl knew what it meant to be loved and wanted. When the feds finally caught up to you, you risked your life to stay with her. Then when Letty died, you risked your life all over again in anticipation of me being reckless enough to get myself caught or killed... all so she could some day have me in her life." Brian watched wide-eyed as Dom held the papers up and ripped them straight down the middle. " _You_ are Vitalia's father, Brian. I hope to God I'm always a part of your lives, but I would lose both of you before I would tear you apart. I-"

That was as far as Dom got before Brian pulled him into a crushing kiss, choosing to show him what his words meant rather than try to somehow come up with a significant enough way to say 'thank you.'

When they finally pulled apart long minutes later, both men were breathing hard, and they stared at each other, foreheads pressed together and hands wrapped around the backs of each other's necks.

"As much as I hate to break up this moment, there was actually something else bothering me about those papers that I wanted to ask you about," Dom said lowly, and Brian reluctantly leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest more to force himself to keep his hands off of Dom than anything else.

"What's that?"

"Tanner. Why the hell would he even make it possible for me to barge in and take Tali away from you?"

"I... hadn't really given it much thought," Brian answered slowly, but now that he thought about it, he was suddenly quite anxious for the chance to ask the man just that. Dom seemed to be reading his mind, because the next thing he said was,

"Well, it sounds like maybe you should take a day and go look into things." Brian didn't disagree, but he definitely noticed the way Dom didn't meet his eyes and shifted restlessly - all his usual signs that he was hiding something.

"Okaaaay... and what about Talia?" Dom didn't answer right away, but after a none-too-subtle nudge from Brian, he finally said,

"I was hoping to take her with me... to visit Vince in prison." The silence that followed the statement was absolute, both men hardly breathing for nearly a minute before Brian finally let out a long, loud sigh.

"I guess I better go wake her up then; have her pick out something nice to wear to meet her Uncle Vince." He stood and started towards his daughter's room, but a hand with a tight grip on his shoulder held him back, and he turned his head to find Dom watching him.

"Thanks." Brian forced a tight smile onto his face and shook off the thank you.

"He's her family," he answered simply, then patted the hand on his shoulder before shrugging it off and going to wake Talia.

As he walked quietly into her room, he tried really hard not think about Dom getting him out of the way so that he could take Talia to see Vince without him, and tried even harder not to read too much into what that might mean.


End file.
